Extended Rear Facing Car Seats: Something to think about

For our trip down to Louisiana on Labor Day weekend, Isabelle got a special treat.  For the first time in her little 20 month old life, she was able to see the road.  We finally turned her car seat into the forward-facing position. 

Most parents turn their children to the forward facing position at 1 year of age, the minimum age when a child is legally permitted to be turned.  There's definitely nothing wrong with that or with you as a parent for making that choice.  However, a friend of mine brought new information to my attention when Isabelle was about 11 months old, and I've been quite grateful for it.  I thought I would pass the info on to you so that you would be informed enough to make whatever choice is best for your family. 

The AAP's guidelines on child safety state that a child should remain rear facing until his first birthday AND he meets the minimum of 20 pounds.  However, they have considered changing their guidelines, and while they haven't yet, they have made a recommendation that children stay rear facing as long as possible or until 2 years of age (see this article on the possible policy change). 

Why keep your child rear facing?
New research shows that toddlers are more than 5 times safer when riding rear facing until their second birthday.  From what I've read, the primary issue is spinal cord injury, which is much less likely if the child stays rear facing.  Front collisions are much more likely to be fatal than rear collisions (which also happen at lower speeds), and a rear-facing child will be less likely to incur such a fatal injury. 

Toddlers' bodies are still developing, and while all of us would be safer if rear-facing, an adult is better able to withstand a spinal cord injury than a young toddler. 

In fact, most Western European countries have much stricter laws than the US when it comes to child safety seats.  Children are often kept rear-facing until 4 or 5 years of age.  Some states are also considering changing their policies when it comes to toddlers and rear-facing car seats. 

Here are two links that give more data:

2007 journal article from Injury Prevention
Car Safety Site

Why turn your child forward facing at 12 months?

• Because he has outgrown the infant carrier.  Get a convertible car seat.
• The child looks uncomfortable with his legs bunched up near the back of the seat.  It may look uncomfortable, but the child is fine.  Older children will usually cross their legs and sit "indian style" to get comfy.  If you're concerned about leg injury, know that a leg injury is easier to heal than a spinal cord injury.    
• So the child can be content and see where he is going.  Unless your child completely hates car trips, your child will most likely remain content while rear facing because he or she doesn't know the difference. 

So why did we turn Isabelle at 20 months instead of waiting until 2?
I started suspecting that Izzy might be getting too big for her car seat, so about a month ago, I installed her convertible car seat (convertible seats can be rear or forward facing).  Her convertible car seat was given to us by my brother & sister-in-law, so we were fortunate that we didn't have to purchase one.  I installed it rear-facing and was not happy with the result.  After driving around town for a day and noticing the way she slid around (and could even flip, given the right conditions), I asked my favorite Engineer to re-install it for me.  Damian installed it with the same results.  Her car seat, while called a convertible, doesn't convert well in my Ford Escape.  We switched back to her infant car seat until I brought her in for a checkup with the pediatrician.  At the checkup, I discovered that she had definitely maxed out the infant car seat on both height and weight, so much to my disappointment, we had no option but to put her back in the convertible car seat, forward facing (or we could've bought a new car seat, which isn't in the budget right now). 

I came across this great site called CarSeatData.org.  It allows you to put in your car make and model and find a brand of car seat that fits your car properly.  As it turns out, only two convertible car seats will properly fit in my vehicle when installed in the rear facing position.  One is an Evenflo and the other is made by Britax (the Marathon pictured above), which seems to be the top maker of safe convertible car seats.  If you're in the market for a new car seat, I would definitely check the site out first.       

I know in this day and age, we can be a little too safety conscious or germophobic when it comes to our kids.  While I don't advocate paranoia, I do think there's something to be said for making wise decisions for your family based on data and experience.